Lawmakers approve safe haven bill

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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

After several years of arguing over the details of bills that would allow desperate mothers to legally leave their child in a safe place, senators gave final approval Thursday to Nebraska’s version of a “safe haven” law.

And depending on when Gov. Dave Heineman signs the bill into law, Nebraska will become the 49th or 50th state to provide places — generally hospitals and fire stations — where women can leave a baby, no questions asked.

Alaska’s governor is expected to sign that state’s safe haven bill into law at noon Monday in the Juneau Capitol. Heineman is expected to sign the Nebraska bill, but Jen Rae Hein, spokeswoman for the governor, had no other information.

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Nebraska’s simple, two-sentence law is unique. It allows a parent to leave a child of any age at a hospital, without fear of prosecution for abandonment or child neglect.

“This is cutting-edge,” said Sen. Rich Pahls, one of two senators who last year sponsored safe haven bills. “There is nothing comparable.”

Most other states have set age limits of 72 hours to 30 days so that only infants can be left at a safe haven.

And if that twist — no age limit — becomes a problem, then senators in the future can change the law, said Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center, who made the issue his priority bill. The bill expanded far beyond what Stuthman said he originally intended. But the compromise, covering a child of any age, was necessary to get the bill through the Legislature, he said.

Stuthman said he expected the safe haven measure to be used primarily for infants and  hopes it will save lives. “I don’t want to see a baby dead in a dumpster,” he said.

Parents would learn that if they leave an older child at the hospital that child likely will be under the state’s control and perhaps in foster care for the next year, Stuthman said.

The two-sentence bill says this: “No person shall be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child in the custody of an employee on duty at a hospital licensed by the state of Nebraska. The hospital shall promptly contact appropriate authorities to take custody of the child.”

The law leaves all the details up to hospitals and the bureaucracy.  “So there are no hoops to jump through,” Pahls said. “You bring a baby to the hospital; it’s a done deal.”

There is already a legal system (the juvenile courts and the state’s foster care system) in place to handle the rest of the details, Pahls said.

Pressure for senators to pass a safe haven bill began to mount after Oprah Winfrey told millions of viewers in 2006 that three states —Nebraska, Alaska and Hawaii — did not have laws that allowed a mother to leave an infant without fear of prosecution.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.